A €130,000 Lope De Vega colt emerged as the clear standout of this year’s Sportsman’s Sale with his price earning him the distinction of being the highest priced lot to come under the hammer at this sale for a decade.

The sale-topper was offered by Croom House Stud and made notable appeal not only as a son of the leading sire but also as a result of a notable update to his family. The colt is out of a Grade 3 runner-up whose first foal is this season’s two-time juvenile winner and Group 3-placed Special Purpose.

The price couldn’t quite match the €240,000 that was paid for the top lot in 2007 but he is still among the standout lots produced at this sale in the last 15 years. John Cullinan outlasted Stephen Hillen and reported afterwards that he had bought him in partnership with Roger Marley to head to next year’s breeze-up sales.

Once again the sale benefitted from the support of Chinese owner Yuesheng Zhang, whose purchases during the Orby included a €300,000 son of Invincible Spirit. Acting through the BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe, he picked up several choice lots which included an €85,000 daughter of Dream Ahead.

The strength of this filly’s pedigree is such that she was catalogued with just one dam on her page and her siblings include the Del Mar Oaks heroine Amorama and the dam of the Group 1 scorer Odeliz.

FURTHER INVESTMENT

Another Yulong Investments purchase came when Donohoe signed for the sale’s only Australia yearling. This filly is a half-sister to several classy North American runners including the Grade 2 heroine Bauble Queen. Donohoe reported that his client would again have a number of horses in training in Ireland in 2018.

The breeze-up sales are the target for an elegant Pivotal filly from Lumville Farm who fetched €75,000. The own-sister to a winner, whose grandam is the high-class Misterah, was snapped up on behalf of a syndicate by John Hassett after he fended off the attentions of Eddie Lynam.

Bobby O’Ryan’s spending for the day was headed by a €60,000 colt from the first crop of the Group 2 winner and multiple Group 1-placed Gregorian. Keith Dalgleish will train the half-brother to four winners who was showing a good return on the €11,000 he cost as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland last November. The same combination also went to €55,000 to secure a Camacho colt from Abbeville Stud. His three-year-old half-brother Turf Laurel has been placed at Group 3 level in France.

He had to settle for the role of underbidder on the day’s top lot but Stephen Hillen made his presence felt elsewhere and he spent €55,000 on a son of the recently pensioned Kyllachy from Pat Donworth’s Torard House Stud. Richard Hughes will train the descendent of the brilliant Lochsong who was purchased for 15,500gns at the Tattersalls February Sale.

BUNGLE INTHEJUNGLE

It was a good day for the progeny of first crop sire Bungle Inthejungle with the Cornwallis and Molecomb Stakes winner supplying a €55,000 filly who was bought on behalf of Clive Cox. This filly enjoyed quite a boost to her pedigree several weeks ago when her juvenile half-brother, Stage Magic, won at Group 3 level in France.

Much earlier in the day, agent Matt Coleman spent €52,000 on a daughter of Bungle Inthejungle hailing from Rathasker Stud where the Exceed And Excel horse resides. This filly is a half-sister to the Pipalong Stakes winner Audacia.

Also worth a mention from the day’s proceedings was a tremendous pinhooking triumph for the connections of a Lord Shanakill colt offered by Sunnybrook Stud. He cost just €1,800 as a foal but on his return to the sales ring his price soared to €38,000 when he was knocked down to the BBA Ireland.

AS expected the decision to bring the Goffs Sportsman’s Sale back to one day paid dividends on Thursday with a solid edition of the sale enabling the final figures to gain ground on those from 12 months ago.

The most accurate means of comparison between this year and 2016 is to look at the figures alongside those from day one last year which means that the turnover progressed by 5% to just under €4.9 million. The average of €20,838 and the €16,000 median both finished ahead by seven points, while the clearance rate climbed from 81% to 85%.

In all, this represented a satisfactory edition of the Sportsman’s whose return to its traditional one-day format worked well. A somewhat smaller offering of horses this year helped to concentrate demand and an obvious high point was that the sale produced its highest priced lot for a decade. Also, a look at the top of the market shows that the number of horses to make at least €50,000 grew by two to 13 this year.

POINTS TO NOTE

However, there are a couple of points to note. Firstly, the sale still finished some way off the superb returns posted by the Sportsman’s in 2015 when an appreciably smaller catalogue produced a marginally bigger turnover and strong returns for both the average and median.

Secondly, of the pinhooks offered for resale on Thursday just under a quarter of the 78 that came under the hammer were able to show a profit on their list price as foals (allowing for a €10,000 keep figure).

There is no doubt that this sector of the market is in much better shape than it was 12 months ago but for this to remain the case it will be of critical importance that catalogue sizes remain where they have been this autumn.